Friday, May 10, 2024

DITL: Shouldless Day

Hey hey! I’m coming at you fresh off the tail of a delightful shouldless day! I thought I’d do a DITL style post because how we relax and refill our cups can vastly vary from person to person. My day was basically full on introverting with the exception of a hair cut but you might fill your day getting coffee or lunches with friends or meeting up with others for a walk or glass of wine, etc. All that said, here is how it played out. 

6 am - I wake up on my own feeling rested and lay in bed for 10 minutes before starting my day! Hurray! 

6:15 - Paul is already awake so I get his breakfast (cheerios - this child is a creature of habit like his mom). I try to get Taco up and he is NOT PLEASED. This is a standard part of our day. Taco is NOT a morning person. He decides he wants dad to get him up today so I happily wash my hands of this tasks. I  make my breakfast (2 scrambled eggs + splash of egg whites made in the microwave with salsa + GF toast), Phil comes down with Taco who is magically in a good mood and not screaming! It’s a miracle!


7 am - everyone is fed, dressed and has their teeth brushed. Phil leaves for work with Taco as he will drop him at daycare on his way to his downtown office. I drive Paul to school which is less than 5 minutes away. 

7:15 am - I am back home in a quiet home! My instinct is to rush to the do the next thing because that is how I am programmed in this young kid stage of life. Every day is a productivity puzzle to solve with the solution being - how much can I get done today? So I have to tell myself - calm down, today is a gentle day so take your time and enjoy your coffee. So I sipped my coffee while doing all my NYT games (spelling bee, wordle, connections, and letter boxed) and read a few blogs. 

8:15 am - I head out for a 4 mile run around the local lake in sunshine while listening to the latest episodes of the Popcast (this podcast makes me laugh out loud which is saying a lot as LOL is not my general vibe) and Animal Spirits (finance/investing podcast hosted by 2 financial advisors - work related but a super entertaining podcast that makes me think). 

Post run with our house in the background - not the best pic but I was a little self conscious about taking a selfie in my neighborhood with people coming and going

9 am - I head out with the plan to buy new Hokas at the running store by our house but they are out of the model I run in (Machs). I decided to go to the coffee shop that is across the street since I know they have GF baked goods - except they are closed today due to construction… so I google around to try to find a coffee shop that has something I can eat and eventually I give up and go to a Caribou close to my haircut/color appointment where I know I can get a GF soufflé (yes more eggs but so it goes). My hair appointment is at 11 which is when I usually eat lunch so I need a little something to tie me over. I score a cozy leather chair, buy some Hoka Mach 6s online and read my book (Fat Talk) while sipping my vanilla latte/eating my soufflé. It’s perfection as I love the background buzz of conversations around me but am happy that I can sit silently and read.


11 am - This is the only social part of my day which is a haircut, which I would more so describe as catching up with a good friend who also happens to cut and color my hair and has for the last 15+ years. 

Fresh hair! No make up because I only wear make up if I am working. Ignore the discoloration around the hairline from the dye! Always seems to take a day for that to fully wash out!

1:15 pm - I’m home! I make a taco salad with leftovers from our Cinco de Mayo taco meal and then crawl into bed to continue reading my book. I also read some of the assigned chapters for May from my ‘Lonesome Dove’ buddy read with a Patreon group.

4 pm - Time to head to pick up Paul from school so I can get home and make dinner (chili) for Phil and I (the boys had leftover tacos). 

After dinner the fun continued with a family walk + scoot to the creek and a stop by to see the geese’s latest costumes (a fixture in our neighborhood)! Paul was not up for photos but Taco was all about it! This is the highest our creek has been in several years! The last 2 summers it has basically gone dry during the summer due to droughts. I hope the water levels stay up this year. 





It was a wonderful day and I could use like a week of these! But I’m glad I had today to spend how I pleased. With how rushed and chaotic life often feels, it’s nice to have a day that can be more slow paced and spent exactly how I’d like with no internal judgment about what I “should” be doing! 

If you had a shouldless day, how would you spend it?

16 comments:

  1. Loved reading this Lisa! I am so glad you are able to take these occasional shouldless days to get a little bit of time to yourself. What you said about each day being a productivity puzzle really resonates with me. It’s a constant buzz in the background of where / who / when / what clothes or instruments or accompaniments and I would love a day with none of that! (I know you still had quite a bit of that, on both ends of your day.)

    Your haircut looks fantastic. You have truly gorgeous hair.

    I hope Friday is gentle on you!

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  2. Perfection! Team Introvert here, and the combination of shouldless + alone time sounds perfect.

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  3. Hooray! I'm SO GLAD you got your day, and I loved reading about it. My own shouldless day would look a lot like this, with the substitution of a massage for the haircut. But time alone, reading, sitting in a coffee shop- those are my things!
    When you described your haircut appointment, I was thinking of my massage clients who love to talk during the massage- most people prefer silence, and that's what I like when I get a massage. But some people love to chatter away, and I'm imagining- hoping- that they would describe it as "getting a massage while catching up with a good friend."

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  4. Your hair is SO gorgeous! I'm thrilled you were able to enjoy a great "shouldless" day!

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  5. This sounds like a lovely day. Your hair looks great. I love my hairdresser and I'm looking forward to seeing her May 30th. I feel like I should start a list of what I want to talk about with her. Ha. I have Fridays off and I'm a little fearful of what the summer months will bring. Will I get any time to myself? On my Fridays, I take my time getting out of bed, go for a run weather permitting, or do an online class, and then I try to write. As much writing as I can squeeze in. I refuse to do housework or food prep. These days are the best. Glad you enjoyed yours.

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  6. What a wonderful day!! I am like you- if I ever, ever come back to an empty house- I start cleaning up/picking up. And I can't stop myself. I feel like if I just sit and I am surrounded by clutter, I can't relax. But then again, I feel resentful for picking up when I could be reading. A circle.

    Your hair looks fantastic! A much deserved should-less day!!

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  7. What a wonderful day! Like you, my shouldless day wound involve exercise outside (but a walk rather than a run), coffee and reading (love the background hum of a cafe), and more coffee and reading at home. I’d probably swap the hair cut for a massage. But your hair looks fabulous! Hooray. I’m planning a shouldless day for June (my kids will be at school but I get a day off work that day) and looking forward to it 🙂

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  8. Love seeing a rundown of your day. Reminds me I need a haircut!

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  9. That sounds like a wonderful day -- not much of a schedule (apart from the hair, once everyone was up and out) but still fun family time. I love it.

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  10. I am so glad that your shouldless day went well! I love your haircut! I noticed in your photo of your family that your sister's hair is a lot darker than yours, but I love your highlights! I have not had a haircut in over a year, but I really hate the process and will probably just have K cut it when I see her in June! I would much rather get a massage, which I guess is something special that I love but never really get for myself. However, just like with hairdressers, it is sometimes hard to find a masseuse that you love! I had one but she went back to school for Ultrasound technology and then the pandemic hit anyway, so I guess that would have gone away for a while regardless!

    It is funny that Taco is fine with photos here, as usually isn't it he that hates them?! Kids are funny and fickle, but I guess so are adults!

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  11. What a lovely day! I'm so glad you worked a shouldless day into your schedule. Reading time, alone time, and a haircut - sounds like the perfect recharge you needed!

    I have a lot of shouldless days in my life, ha, being single and childless. One of the things I do for myself these days, now that I have unlimited PTO, is take at least one day off a month. So, if I don't have any time off coming up for a vacation or something like that, I'll just take off a random day during the week for myself, which is SO nice!

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  12. Oh, man. This type of day is #lifegoals for me right now. Because I'm dealing with family stuff out of state, I just don't have PTO to burn for this, but I want to. I want to have endless hours to read. I want to be able to walk the dog without a clock ticking down. I want to be able to go out for lunch and be leisurely about it. You're a real inspiration!

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  13. I love slow days like this! Reading in bed for hours sounds luxurious to me and I try to do it every weekend. I also enjoy solo day at home, with no one but myself, and the cat maybe. Somehow the time slows down when I'm not rushed and nowhere to go, no to-do list to tackle.
    I love that you have a hair stylist for sooo long. I'm yet to find one. Im super low maintenance with hair, ponytails everyday.

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  14. This sounds like such a nice and relaxed day all to yourself, Lisa. I love that you take these days for yourself. And your new haircut looks great!

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  15. I love that you take these days for yourself. What a wonderful gift, and one we would all do well to emulate. By the way, your hair is gorgeous! And your smile in the pictures says it all. :)

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  16. So so far behind on blogs but I have just caught up. Your hair looks gorgeous! I love when you recap your shouldless days!!! Those geese are just amazing!!! I hope that creek doesn't dry out this summer!!! Hokas are the absolute best!!!

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